Category Archives: Childhood and children

“In case of tribal societies […] there are two striking aspects with regard to caring for the child and nurturing the young. One is the prevalence of breast feeding and the other is the tradition of kin/community care of the children. It is the kin care that explains as to why it is rare to find destitution and begging among tribal population, including tribal children.” – Virginius Xaxa in “The Status of Tribal Children in India: A historical perspective” (Institute for Human Development and United Nations Children’s Fund, India)
https://www.ihdindia.org/pdf/virginius_xaxa.pdf
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=14668

“Tribal children have higher levels of undernutrition compared to children of socially economically advanced sections.” – Programme report on Tribal nutrition: “UNICEF’s efforts to support the tribal population, especially children who suffer from malnourishment”
https://www.unicef.org/india/what-we-do/tribal-nutrition
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=11674

“[Tribal] children are preferred for particular works due to the benefit of vigorous toil for low wages. […] Income generation at a very young age reduces the scope for development of other individual resources.” – Ameya MR in “A Case Study of ‘Kanavu’ in the Evolutionary Perspective of Approaches to Education” (MA thesis, Mahatma Gandhi University 2015), p. 57
https://www.academia.edu/21289981
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=1847

“It is not very difficult to identify the issues related to accessing the educational opportunities by the Adivasi children in general, and children within certain groups in particular. They include difficulties of physical access, the problem of language and culture, and the contrast between the apparent backwardness of these communities as imagined by the authorities and a very different objective reality that upholds a plethora of cultural strengths that can be fruitfully utilised while planning educational initiatives. Utilisation of resources available in the form of educated Adivasi youths would be just one of several to achieve this end.” – Brochure for the report titled “Living World of the Adivasis of West Bengal: An Ethnographic Exploration”, issued on the occasion of the Kolkata International Book Fair 2020
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=31882

“A boy tells a girl: Oh Muni, you may have forgotten the days when we played together under the banyan tree. Playfully we cooked dust as if it were rice and tree-leaves as if they were curry. How we used to catch fish together in the muddy water and pull out lotus-roots from the water to eat. Maybe you no longer remember? The girl tells the boy: Remembering our bygone days makes my heart burn, the smile of my child lightens my heart.” – Synopsis by Boro Baski for “Dhuri Daka (Rice made of Dust)”, a song composed and performed by staff and students of the Rolf Schoembs Vidyashram (Non-formal Santal school, Ghosaldanga village, Dist.-Birbhum, West Bengal), included in the Santali video album “Ale Ato” (Our Village)
https://youtu.be/OU15PO8TFnA
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?page_id=25317

“The smart boy or clever girl who is deprived of the opportunity of schooling, or who goes to a school with dismal facilities (not to mention the high incidence of absentee teachers), not only loses the opportunities he or she could have had, but also adds to the massive waste of talent that is a characteristic of the life of our country.” – Nobel Awardee Amartya Sen in The Argumentative Indian (Penguin Books, 2005), p. 344
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Argumentative_Indian
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?page_id=25728

“For the first time, we have witnessed the direct weaponisation of the young in schools. […] But behind this specific incident lie some philosophical flaws. One is the socially instilled belief that uniformity is equality and uniformity is order.” – T.M. Krishna in “Does uniformity bring about equality? Think again” (Deccan Herald, 13 February 2022)
https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/does-uniformity-bring-about-equality-think-again-1080919.html
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=21733

“Women have profound traditional and contemporary knowledge about the natural world around them and hence there’s a necessity to make policies mindful of the connection between environment and gender. [T]hat’s why it’s largely in the hands of women to sensitise our children towards the ecological heritage. Big changes always begin with small steps and the right place is always the home.” – Writer-activist Mari Marcel Thekaekara (The Hindu, 27 January 2017)
https://www.thehindu.com/society/A-messenger-from-the-mountains/article17102329.ece
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=22373